The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-24
FLAMES ON THE SYLVIA.
FIRE BREAKS OUT IN CHE STEAM
ER'S FORWARD HOLD.

Heated Red, and the Firemen Work
at Disadvantage-Plen of Theo-
ries, But No knowledge as to the
Fires Origin.
Another cotton fire occurred last night
aboard British steamer that was nearly
loaded, and, like the others, its origin is a
mystery. 1t was in the cargo of the steam
er Sylvia, which was lying outside the
Coronilla, at the Lower Hydraulic Press
wharf, loading for Reval. She has been
taking her cargo there and had 4, 1913 bales
on board, needing only 500 bales to finish
All of the vessels compartments were
filed except the forward one, and
the hatch was empty, but there
were forty-seven bales in a storeroom
forward of No hatch. Work was stopped
on the vessel at 5:45 o'clock Saturday after
noon. The matches were put on and they
remained closed until last night, when they
were opened to give access to the fire. The
fire must have been burning when the
matches were put on, but there was no
smoke and no odor by which it could be de-
tected. Everything seemed all right at 6
o'clock last night when the officers and all
the crew except three came ashore.
DISCOVERING THE FIRE.
Allen Swan, a seaman left on board as
Waterman and the two other sailors were
sitting in the forecastle talking. About $50
O'Clock Swan smelled burning cotton, and
he and his companions went out on deck to
see what it was. As they stepped out of the
1orecastle, they saw smoke issuing from the
forward scuttle Swan ran aboard the
Coronilla and called to attract the attention
of some one. A policeman answered him,
and on being told that the vessel was on fire
the officer ran to box thirty-seven and
turned in the alarm. Engines Nos. l, 2and
responded, Assistant Chief George
Mouro was in charge of the department.
as Chief Fernandez is sick.
The engines were placed upon the wharf,
and as soon as lines of hose could be run
aboard they began pouring streams Of water
into the scuttle. AT first they seemed to
check the fire, but it was soon seen that the
water was not reaching the right spot. No
hatch was then opened and the streams
turned in there, but for a time the fire
burned unaffected by the water that was
poured into the compartment. The deck
near the forecastle was heated until it was
red, and looking down the hatohway the red
glow that betokens hot fire could be seen
when the smoke was not so dense as to be
tmpenetrable.
THE VESSEL LISTED.
The ship was aground and was listed
slightly outward, and when the water was
poured in, it ran to the
lower side, causing her to heel good
deal more. The water, of course, sought
the lower side as soon as it fell, and the cot
ton on the starboard side was left high and
dry, ready food for the flames A ladder
was procured and lowered into the hold,
and several fremen went below TO locate
the fire. At first they were unsuccessful,
for the smoke was SO thick that it was i'm
possible for them to see, and
the only effect of their attempts was
to half suffocate them and bring tears
TO their eyes, but repeated trials
eventually resulted in the discovery that
the fire was up near the deck, and forward
of the hatchway. When this was learned,
ropes were tied to the pipes, and they were
lowered down the habchway below the level
of the decks, and there they were held By
this means the fremen were enabled to
throw the streams directly upon the blazes
and soon they began to lessen The tug
Republic steamed alongside and offered her
services, but Capt. Vasey, of the Sylvia
concluded that the department could con-
troll the flames, and did not accept her.
SAILORS AFTER THEIR EFFECTS.
The sailors rushed through the smoke and
over the heated decks into the forecastle to
secure their dunnage, and when they got
their bags they ran the muck again and
placed their effects in the wheelhouse, after
which they looked more calmly upon the
fire. In the mean time Acting Chief Mouro
had sent out second alarm, and engine No.
and Protection Hose Company went down
After the fire was reached by letting down
~the hose, there was nothing to do but to
hold the pipes in place and let the water
pour In, and that was done. About IL
O'Clock the fire seemed to be all out, and the
volumes OF smoke were greatly decreased.
THE VESSELS CARGO
There were only $50 bales in the first
compartment, and they with the AZ bales in
the store-room forward of that were all that
were known to have been damaged last
night. The vessel had iron decks, but the
bulkhead between the first and second COM
partments was of wood and it was feared it
would give away and let the smoke and
water into the second compartment where
LOO bales were slowed. So p Powers got
together force Of men and went to work
TO break out the cotton in this compartment
and save it from damage. He worked at it
all night and as far as he had gone up to l
o'clock all that was taken out was unin-
jured
The vessel is owned by Mr.. Graham, ship
builder of West Hartlepool, and her agents
here are Wilder & Co. She was loading
for Reval, and would have started on her
voyage in few days had it not been for the
accident She is ,206 tons register.
The loss on the cotton will be about $780,
900, and to this will be added from s., 900 to
$4,000 expenses.
As the ire occurred on Sunday night it
gave numbers of people an opportunity to
be on hand, and there were hundreds trying
to get on the wharves, but were kept back by
thepolice. Not few of those who composed
the crowds were women, and they made
more strenuous efforts than the men to get
to position where they would see one of
those occurrences which have been the sub
'Ject of so much discussion, and the causes of
such great losses of late. Not many sue
ceeded, however, for the police kept the
wharf cleared, and ran all those who had no
business on the vessel ashore in order to give
the firemen plenty of room in which to
work.
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE UNKNOWN.
Capt. Vasey was asked if he had any idea
how the fire started, and he said that he could
not account for it. He left the snip early
in the evening and went to church and was
just on his way to the vessel when he heard
the alarm. There were no indications of a
fire prior to the hour of his leaving, and as
the matches had been closed for thirty hours
prior to his leaving he could not see what
can have caused it. Allen Swan, who dis |
covered the fire, was just as ignorant of its |
origin as the captain. 1t was another of
those mysterious, inexplicable fires that
A.. A a